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Lathe Work: Yawara

The smallest member
of the bojutsu family
is the 6 inch yawara.

In the hands
of one acquainted
with this small beast,
pressure points
become subterfuge
and treasonous outlaws.

I.

Loading the platform
with wood
requires the obtaining
of a suitable material,
perhaps kamagong,
a Philippine black ironwood;
American hickory,
from the Appalachians;
but today, osage orange,  
bois d'arc,
the wood used
by native Americans
to make hunting bows,
purchased
from a family tree farm
in Oklahoma.

The turning square is 1.5 X 1.5 X 8,
and the material is covered in wax
to ameliorate the constant rebuffering
of evaporation and moisture driven
by humidity in the natural air.

II.

Once locked into place
upon the spindle,
the spinning wood is shaped
once marked the exact dimensions
of my hand,
a handmade weapon
which fits
in my back pocket
and does not leave its pouch
unless to be practiced
with or used
in close,
hand to hand combat,
breaking the top
of a hand,
the collar bone,
the cheek bone,
and the knee cap
in a singular motion.

III.

The removal of debris
as the sculpting begins
is a reminder,
spinning at 1,500 RPM,
dust mask,
respirator,
two foot knife,
and flinging wood chips,
this is a solitary art
of carving from a small block of wood,
a yellow woven fibered
nearly indestructible material
that is so hard
it causes a chainsaw
to throw sparks,
that once made,
the shape, the design,
the tensile strength
of such a weapon
can only have one purpose.

IV.

Daily practice,
handling,
the aging of the wood
by its contact with my skin,
has turned the color
into a fantastic golden ochre,
the grain of which is unsplitable
and is used only
for the purposes described herein
and for meditation,
the axis mundi,
the dorje,
the vajra of insight
into the fluid nature
of eternity,
a meditation
on the disuse
of weapons.

runningturtle87

Written by runningturtle87
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